The Month in Review – Sept 2022

Hello friends! Welcome to my new series, a monthly round-up letting you know what we’ve been up to.

Here’s what September brought to the table!

Depending on where you live, the cooler weather is making its way. I’m all about the crunchy leaves and cozy sweaters. In September, our menu was filled with comforting soups, casseroles, and lots of fall veggies like squash.

Holly’s September Favorites

• In September I went to Sunriver, OR with a group of bloggers to do some learning and spend time with friends. Sunriver is gorgeous and I did lots of learning and had a great time with friends! We ate some amazing enchiladas and had a fabulous meal at Lodge Kitchen hosted by Sunriver.
• I was lucky enough to enjoy a couple of amazing big boards from my friend Sandy from the Reluctant Entertainer. I got my own gorgeous board just this week and they’re available in Canada now too! Also check out Sandy’s new book here, I got a sneak peek and I think you’ll love the recipes in it as much as I do.
• Lori from Recipe Girl made this incredible avocado salad that I’m completely obsessed with and I had the most amazing sourdough bread from Laura of A Beautiful Plate!
• Now that fall is here, I’m loving cozy sweaters and especially cute shackets. A shacket is a sweater + jacket and super cozy (I have this one in beige and another I picked up at a boutique).
• At the end of this month, I surprised my bestie Dorothy from Crazy for Crust for her birthday. A quick trip to San Francisco was filled with shopping, lots of food, and some much needed time with someone I love!

New and Notable

We’ve been working really hard behind the scenes and we’re really excited for a few things launching in the near future! Here’s what’s new right now.

Save your favorites. A few months ago we launched “save” on SpendWithPennies which means when you’re browsing around, you can save your favorite recipes to your recipe box and you can come back to them! Just click the little heart on the side of the page to save. Sign up with your email (it’s free) so you can access them on any device, phone, or computer.

Spend With Pennies Meal Planner If you haven’t had a chance yet, be sure to check out the Spend With Pennies digital meal plan! We send a meal plan every week and you can drag and drop them however you like to create meal plans and shopping lists! Add your own recipes or search thousands of recipes in our database.

What We’re Eating Right Now

With cooler weather and pumpkin spice and everything nice, we’re enjoying lots of cozy casseroles and soup recipes.

• My friend Deanna gave me this soup recipe years ago, we can’t get enough. Add crusty bread for dunking!
• Although we’re into fall, I’ve still got some zucchini floating around so we’re loving stuffed zucchini boats, fritters, and our other zucchini recipes.
• Slow cookers make dinners easy while we were adapting to new routines in September. This crock pot pork chops recipe is a crowd pleaser!

In My Kitchen

• I’m air fryer obsessed, finally found a pan that fits well in my air fryer.
• I have this air fryer, my favorite of the 8 brands I’ve tried. I use it every day for something or other! (If you’re new to air frying see my fave beginner recipes here).
• Couldn’t live without this meat chopper, I use it all of the time.

Our Favorite Recipes in September.

Have you tried a butter board yet? I made one here on Instagram! It’s like a charcuterie board but with butter (I added roasted garlic and other goodies). I made one and LOVED it. We used the leftover butter on pasta and for corn on the cob. So good!

• This cozy weekend meal, it’s a take on a Julia Child favorite. Bake up some easy drop biscuits to sop up every bit of goodness.
• These stuffed peppers, deliciously cozy, filling, and packed with flavor.
• This slow cooker recipe is a go-to on buns, sliders, or even on top of mac and cheese.
• I’m all about the soups at this time of year. My top 3 are:
  • This easy ground beef version.
  • This healthy hearty favorite soup, you can’t believe you can get that much flavor in such little time.
  • And of course this creamy 20-minute favorite, we make it ALL of the time.
• Something new to try is our pumpkin chili! Pumpkin adds a rich flavor (like butternut squash) and makes a yummy thick chili. Would you give it a go?

Your Favorite Recipes in September.

Here’s what you were checking out in September! This sweet treat has been well loved and is the perfect way to enjoy garden zucchini!

This simple classic recipe has been made lots of times this month, is great to make ahead, and best of all, it freezes like a dream. Try this skillet version for a little bit of a faster prep time!

• More reader favorites in September:
  • Snack: Cowboy Caviar
  • Breakfast: Easy Quiche Recipe
  • Main Dish: The Best Chili
  • Side: Our Favorite Creamy Broccoli Salad
  • Dessert: Apple Pie Filling

New SpendWithPennies Team Member

We have an amazing team here at SpendWithPennies that keeps everything running in tip top shape.

I’d like to introduce the newest addition to our team, our office pup Emmy!! She’s a Havanese joining her brothers Jake and Sam and she’s about 6 months old. Such a little sweetie!

What we’re looking forward to in October.

Crunchy leaves, pumpkin in all of the baking, and cozy casseroles. October is perfect for big bowls of warm goodness in any fashion. I burn more candles in the fall too, loving the spiced cinnamon types right now.

• Expect to see some root veggie recipes this month (think butternut squash and sweet potato), a casserole you’re going to LOVE, and a few new ways to enjoy chicken.
• We’ve got a handful of baking recipes coming (including a great bread perfect for slathering in butter and dipping in soup).
• We’ll be adding to our collection of soup recipes of course.

Let us know in the comments below what you’d like to see this fall!

Happy Pumpkin Spice Season! xoxo